Last time out, I told you that while "I hate February," as has headed many of my prior columns, I added that "I love July" (August too). I forgot to add that while I do like to fish in the summer, I don't like to fish in the rain and, of course, it poured a bazillion gallons over the past two weeks. However, I managed to launch the Gone Fishin' V in Spruce Run Reservoir twice since the last column and frankly, I'd rather be watching TV, even the Yankee losses to the Red Sox!

The first time was mid-morning at the end of July, back under the power lines in 15 feet of water, fishing just off bottom. Buddy Ron Bern and I swung at, maybe, six fish, only hooking one each and each one was modest, to say the least. Mine was a crappie and his, a white perch.

Not convinced that the lake was dead, we got out on a perfect "Magic Hour" evening, one that also had a super Solunar Table reading. And again, stinko. I swung and missed what probably was a hybrid bass and caught two white perch. One was modest in size and hit a piece of chicken liver, held a dozen feet below the surface. The other was a perch that was at least a dozen inches long, indeed, a nice one, and it hit a live herring. But two perch, of any size, for two anglers, at Magic Hour/Peak Solunar? Wow, not good at all.

Let's take you all to school for a few minutes, okay? I often write about "Magic Hours," the time that it starts to darken and fish generally get far more active than earlier in the day. Herring go on top, feeding, and hybrid bass come up, chasing them and grabbing as many as they can for a free meal. That evening though, the only fish we saw on top appeared after we took both anchors in, and lots of them did indeed appear. So I guess we quit a little bit too early.

I also told you that we were on the lake for "Peak Solunar" time. I have always subscribed to the notion that freshwater fish in particular, feed during phases of the moon. Go online and check it for yourself. Type in "Peak Solunar" times, plus the area you intend to fish, and you will be offered a selection to pick from. Pick the area you intend to fish and the screen will tell you what two hours of the day are "peak," twice each day. We were on the lake from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m., the evening peak, and, peak? No, not peak at all. However, I still lean toward fishing during such hours and will try it again often until i prove it again or simply, realize that it was all a pipe dream.

Elsewhere, fluke and sea bass are hitting down the shore, when weather permits. Forgetting the rain mess though, another problem slows down the action in the ocean, and it is a "south wind." Don't ask me why, and even though its been explained to me often, I still don't remember why ocean waters in New Jersey get colder, by anywhere from five to 10 degrees, when the wind blows from a southerly quarter. So, south, southeast, or even southwest, don't count on the ocean producing many, if any, keeper fluke in such conditions. Simply, the bottom water chills down, causing fluke to reduce their feeding habits. We'll talk again about this later this summer.

We received two nice pictures of readers who caught some nice critters. One was from Amy Spock who sent us a picture of Jody Valentino, holding a nice 8-lb striped bass caught in the Delaware and Raritan Canal near where it comes in from the main body of the Raritan, in South Bound Brook. The fish hit a swim bait on July 23.

The other picture came from Laurie at Dow's Boat Rentals on Lake Hopatcong. It shows old-time Knee Deep Club member and former President, Lou Marcucci, holding the big smallmouth bass he hit in the lake.

Other action continues at Hopatcong. For example, Laurie reported Jerry Freeman catching a 4-lb walleye. Also, and most unusual, Matt Wood was casting a "Bomber" from shore, and brought in two nice fish. One was a 7-pound, 7-ounce walleye, and a hybrid bass at 7 pounds, 12 ounces.

Next time, we'll have the results of the Knee Deep Club's annual catfish tournament, held from 6 p.m. Aug. 11 until noon Aug. 12. You can bet that all kinds of bait will produce catties, especially chicken liver.

And on the topic of chicken liver, let's get more specific, okay? Use a bait-holder hook in size 6. Cut off a piece of liver, maybe the size of your thumbnail, a half-inch in depth. Stick the hook in and out so that most of the hook is buried in the bait. Even more specific now, cut away the white stuff, this is probably the gall sack, and use the darkest part of the liver, the lighter color section is too soft. I've caught loads of catfish, hybrid bass and white perch on the stuff and, no, I don't know why, but it works. It even produces lots of small striped bass in the Delaware too!

See ya' again in two weeks. Meanwhile though, please take some good high-resolution pictures and send them to me with reports of what you are catching, as well as where and how too, okay? My e-mail address remains mannyfishing@msn.com.